CONRAD BALATONI is proud that Partick Thistle's character shone through during their Premiership thriller with Hamilton.

Only three days after they crashed to a 6-0 loss to Celtic in the League Cup, Alan Archibald's side found themselves two goals down early on at New Douglas Park and staring another heavy defeat in the face.

In the end, though, the Jags were left gutted that they had to settle for a share of the spoils after Tony Andreu struck in the final seconds to clinch a point for Accies.

Up to then Thistle had been on course for a remarkable victory after hitting back with goals from Jordan McMillan, James Craigen and Christie Elliott.

But, while they were left deflated at the final whistle, there was no shortage of positives for the Firhill side to take.

Balatoni said: "It was devastating to concede so late on. It felt like a defeat for us and was really hard to take.

"But the boys showed great character to come back from two goals down, so we need to look at the good things and try and rectify the negatives.

"Before the game Accies were top of the league on merit, but we believe we are just as good as them. They have managed to get the results and we haven't.

"People might say that is because they are better than us, but we don't feel that. We feel we have a squad that is good enough to beat anyone in this league.

"It was disappointing to go behind by losing two goals in a minute.

"We need to be harder to beat and harder to score against.

"But we have looked better in defence this season and we need to create a platform at the back for the team going forward.

"A lot of teams would have crumbled going 2-0 down, but we didn't. That character is what we need for the rest of the season."

Next up for Thistle is the clash with St Mirren in Paisley on Saturday as they bid to start moving up the Premiership.

The Jags are four points clear of Tommy Craig's side in the table and are aiming to record their second win of the season over the Buddies after edging a League Cup tie at Firhill earlier in the campaign.

Balatoni said: "St Mirren are not in great form but, in this league, that doesn't matter. You just need one good game to get you going.

"We will be trying to stop them doing that and hopefully we can get the three points to start a sustained push in the right direction. You only have to look at Dundee and how they have moved up a few places by winning a couple of games on the bounce.

"So we have to take confidence from our recent performances and look to climb the table."